woman at the end of a dock in Switzerland

Riding the Rails in Switzerland

Usha and Mark just returned from a fabulous trip to Switzerland where — armed with an 8-day Swiss Travel Pass that gave them unlimited use of the local trains, buses, and boats, as well as free admission to hundreds of museums — they were able to cover a whole lot of ground in a relatively short amount of time.

European rail passes like this can be a GREAT option when you are going to move around a lot, and don’t want to be tied down to specific trains in advance. Let me know if their trip report inspires you to ride the rails 🙂

We had a fantastic trip!

In Zurich we liked our hotel {Boutique Hotel Wellenberg}. The breakfast was good and the service was good. Location was great, a short walk to everything. Some things we did and enjoyed there were a lake cruise on Lake Zurich, walking tour of the city,  and going to Uetilberg (the highest point in Zurich). We also took a short train ride to Rhinefalls which was beautiful (the largest waterfall in Europe).

beautiful roaring waterfall

In Lucerne, we liked our hotel {Romantik Wilden Mann} as well, and had great breakfast. Also great location close to the lakes and bridges. We took most of one day to do some city exploring doing a walking tour of the major sites and went to mount Pilatus which was fantastic. We spent the second day mostly traveling to Jungfrau and back, which is the top of Europe and offers amazing views and scenery over 10,000 feet up. Its located in Interlaken, which was a 3 hour train ride. 

Switzerland snow capped mountains across a clear blue lake

In Montreux we mostly relaxed. Our hotel {Eden Palace au Lac} was awesome and had great views of the mountains and lake.

We went to a famous castle, the casino, the original Queen recording studio, and explored the town a bit and some of the surrounding vineyards.

In Geneva we stayed at a spectacular hotel {Le Richemond}. We only had a short time but we saw most of the major sites including the jet, the flower clock, and St Pierre cathedral. They also have a famous shopping district but we were there on a Sunday so that was mostly closed (no big deal). We also went shopping for some chocolate since it was our last day and we wanted to have things to bring back. 

shot of water across a lake switzerland

Overall, we had a great time! The Swisspass was definitely worth it. Everything is expensive including food, but we anticipated that.

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You provided excellent guidance for us. I appreciated that you really had us think about what was most important to us when we were selecting the right cruise – and not to totally focus on what other people had to say. THANK YOU for helping to make this a memorable trip for our family! It really was a trip of a lifetime!

Clare and Mark (family cruise to Alaska)

The level of service we experienced was out of this world (and we did NOT make it easy on Ann). We weren’t quite sure where we wanted to go, when we would be able to go, or what “vibe” we were going for. After asking us some key questions (what we liked, didn’t like, why, etc.) Ann helped us narrow down our trip details and planned the honeymoon of our dreams. She helped book some of our excursions, answered some emergency questions while abroad and was always available/willing to help. I think it’s safe to say we won’t be using anyone else for future travel planning – Ann is a rockstar!

Carli (Italy and Spain)